November 2010

November 30, 2010

Texas A&M has accepted a bid to the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic, school officials announced today.

The contest, to be played Jan. 7 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, will pit No. 19 A&M (9-3) against an opponent from the Southeastern Conference. The identity of the SEC team will not be known until after Saturday’s SEC Championship Game. But the most likely candidates are No. 11 LSU (10-2) and No. 17 Alabama (9-3).

This will mark the Aggies’ 12th appearance in the Cotton Bowl, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary with this year’s game. A&M last played in the Cotton Bowl in 2005, when the Aggies fell to Tennessee, 38-7.

November 29, 2010

ESPN analyst Jesse Palmer said Monday on the network's "College Football Live" that Stanford or Wisconsin are "two one-loss teams much more deserving" than undefeated TCU of playing in the BCS national title game should Oregon or Auburn lose Saturday.

Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said Monday morning he would have an update on the availability of running back DeMarco Murray for Saturday's Big 12 championship game against Nebraska.

Murray suffered a sprained knee in the fourth quarter Saturday night in the 47-41 victory at Oklahoma State. It's likely he will be limited during the week, but that's in itself shouldn't affect his effectiveness if the knee is in good shape. Slot receiver Ryan Broyles, for instance, has not practiced intensely during the week since spraining an ankle several weeks ago.--Mike jones.

November 28, 2010

A few leftovers and one update from the late finish to Oklahoma's 47-41 victory over Oklahoma State Saturday night:

*There was no official word on Sooners running back DeMarco Murray's apparent knee injury suffered early in the fourth quarter. Coach Bob Stoops said after the game he did not believe the injury was serious. Sunday, associate athletic director Kenny Mossman said he had not heard anything new but that team medical personnel were optimistic that Murray was not seriously injured. His presence will be crucial to the Sooners' chances of defeating Nebraska for the championship. I don't think they win without the all-purpose back, who Stoops has relieved of kickoff return duties in favor of receiver Trey Franks and back Brennan Clay.

*Defensive coordinator Brent Venables, as mentioned in the game column, came up with another insightful plan against the Cowboys, using a '50' scheme the staff studied during the offseason, including a trip to visit with Nick Saban's staff at Alabama. Frequently, Venables utilized a 3-man front with only one defensive tackle in the game. Sometimes none. Ends Frank Alexander, Ronnell Lewis and David King all played on the front. End Jeremy Beal was mostly used as an outside linebacker. Venables also frequently sent linebacker Austin Box on a corner blitz. Great plan.

"We got in a little bit of an odd front, more than we ever have," Stoops said. "It worked out well for us. I thought the kids executed well. And Brent did a nice job mixing that in."

Venables has been mentioned as a candidate at Miami, which fired coach Randy Shannon Saturday.

*OSU Mike Holder's exorbitant ticket policy resulted in a less-than-sold-out crowd of 51,164 (cap. 60,218) for the biggest game of the modern era.

*OU ran a season-high 107 plays and outgained OSU 588-379.

*OU scored 23 points in the fourth quarter. The Sooners had scored only 32 all season.

*Safety Javon Harris, despite a shove on a kickoff that brought a 15-yard penalty, played one of the best games of his career subbing for Jonathan Nelson who got his bell rung. Stoops said after the game he did not believe Nelson would miss any time.

*OU kicker Jimmy Stevens tied a career high with 4 field goals. He has made his last seven in two games. Saturday night he also tied the record of 17 points in a game by a kicker, matching Trey DiCarolo's total against Texas in 2003.

November 24, 2010

Texas A&M officials have applied to be acknowledged with a Guinness world record for most students to attend a college football game based on the crowd count from last week’s 9-6 victory over Nebraska.

A&M officials announced a stadium-record crowd of 90,079 for the contest at Kyle Field, including 31,005 students who pulled tickets for the event. Of those students who pulled tickets, A&M officials announced today that 30,467 had those tickets scanned at stadium gates to view the contest.

Once personnel with Guinness verify the data, A&M officials said they expect to be issued a certificate acknowledging their “world record” student crowd.

November 22, 2010

Texas sophomore forward Jordan Hamilton won Big 12 Conference Player of the Week for the second straight week after an all-tournament performance at the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer in New York.

Hamilton averaged 26.5 points and 7.5 rebounds two games against Top 15 opponents during the championship rounds. He converted 17-of-35 (.486) field goals, including 7-of-12 (.583) from three-point range and 12-of-18 (.667) free throws.

In Thursday’s 90-84 overtime victory against No. 13 Illinois, he scored 25 points with seven rebounds. One night later during the 68-66 loss against No. 5 Pittsburgh in the championship game, Hamilton recorded a career-best 28 points with eight rebounds and tied his career high in three-point field goals made (5-of-8) and free throws made (7-of-9).

Through the first four contests this season, Hamilton leads the team in scoring (24.5 ppg) and ranks second in rebounding (7.3 rpg) while converting 33-of-68 (.485) field goals, including 11-of-26 (.423) from three-point range, and 21-of-28 (.750) free throws.--Mike Jones.

No. 20/21 Texas (3-1) returns to the court when it hosts Sam Houston State on Tuesday, Nov. 23. Tip is set for 7 p.m. Central, and the game will be televised by the Longhorn Sports Network. The contest will be broadcast in the state of Texas only by FOX Sports Southwest (except in the DFW and North Texas markets, where the game will be televised by FOX Sports Plus), and it will be available outside the state on the ESPN Full Court package.

November 21, 2010

With five teams still in the mix to play for a Big 12 championship, the possibility remains that both division titles in the Big 12 could be settled by tiebreakers at the end of this week.

Below is a look at those scenarios and how those ties would be broken in information passed along by officials at the Big 12 office:

South Division: Should Texas A&M defeat Texas Thursday and Oklahoma defeat Oklahoma State Saturday, the South will finish in a three-way tie as the Aggies, the Sooners and the Cowboys would each be 6-2. In this case, Big 12 rules state that the BCS Standings would be used to break a three-way tie.

The BCS Standings released Nov. 28 would be used to break the three-way tie and decide the South Division representative in the Big 12 Championship game. The team ranked highest in the BCS Standings would be the South Division representative.

However, there is a change to the tie-breaker rule that could bring in head-to-head results. If separated by one place in the BCS Standings, the Big 12 team ranked second could become Division representative in the championship game if it won the regular-season head-to-head meeting with the team ranked higher in the BCS Standings.

North Division: Nebraska owns the head-to-head tie-breaker over Missouri by virtue of its 31-17 victory over the Tigers on Oct. 30.

Here is what needs to happen for the five teams in contention for Big 12 Division titles:

Missouri: Needs to beat Kansas and for Colorado to beat Nebraska. That would make the Tigers North Division champions.

Nebraska: Can clinch the North Division with a victory over Colorado or a Missouri loss to Kansas.

Oklahoma: The Sooners need to beat Oklahoma State Saturday in Stillwater. If Texas beats Texas A&M Thursday, an OU victory over Oklahoma State would give the Sooners the South Division title

Oklahoma State: Can clinch the South Division title with a victory over Oklahoma. A loss to the Sooners plus a loss by Texas A&M would put Oklahoma and Oklahoma State into a first-place tie but Oklahoma would have the head-to-head tiebreaker edge. The Cowboys would fall into a three-way tie for first with a loss to the Sooners and a Texas A&M victory over Texas.

Texas A&M: Would finish 6-2 with a victory at Texas Thursday. If Oklahoma beats Oklahoma State, that would create a three-way tie in the South Division that would be broken as outlined above.

Big 12 three-way tie-breaker rule: If three or more teams are tied, steps 1 through 7 will be followed until a determination is made. If only two teams remain tied after any step, the winner of the game between the two tied teams shall be the representative.1. The records of the three teams will be compared against each other2. The records of the three teams will be compared within their division3. The records of the three teams will be compared against the next highest placed teams in their division in order of finish (4, 5 and 6)4. The records of the three teams will be compared against all common conference opponents.5. The highest ranked team in the first Bowl Championship Series poll following the completion of Big 12 regular season conference play shall be the representative in the Big 12 Championship Game, unless two of the tied teams are ranked within one spot of the other in the BCS poll. In this case, the head-to-head results of the top two ranked tied teams shall determine the representative in the Big 12 Championship Game.6. The team with the best overall winning percentage (excluding exempted games) shall be the representative.7. The representative will be chosen by draw.

November 19, 2010

Oklahoma defensive end Adrian Taylor of Mansfield will undergo surgery Tuesday in Oklahoma City to repair stretched muscles around his Achilles tendon, his father said Friday. “The injury is not as serious as first thought,” Adrian Taylor said. “There is nothing torn, only stretched. But having surgery will help his recovery and (lessen) chances of the injury occurring. They’re saying he will have 100 percent recovery.” Taylor was injured in the second quarter of last week’s 45-7 victory over Texas Tech.—Mike Jones.

November 18, 2010

Now that he's completed his first year playing against Big 12 competition after coaching in the Southeastern Conference from 1995-'08 at Ole Miss and Auburn, Texas Tech coach Tommy Tuberville has noticed a very stark difference between the two power conferences.

For starters, the folks in the Big 12 prefer to fill the airways with one football after another, while the folks in the SEC lean more towards grinding their way to a victory by running the football. It's an adjustment Tuberville had to quickly make as he went through his first go-round in the pass-happy Big 12.

"There’s not many teams in the SEC that live and die off the pass,'' Tuberville said Thursday. "They're all going to be run-oriented first.

"They may have a good receiver. But in (the Big 12) everybody's got a wide receiver that’s a playmaker.''

Although the Red Raiders have non-conference games remaining against Weber State and Houston, they've already finished Big 12 play with a 3-5 record. Two of those victories -- against Baylor and Missouri -- were against teams who are already bowl eligible.

The Red Raiders played against four receivers this year who are ranked among the Top 10 in the nation in passes caught per game. That includes Ryan Broyles (Oklahoma), Justin Blackmon (Oklahoma State), Michael Egnew (Missouri) and T.J. Moe (Missouri).

The Raiders themselves had their own share of wide receivers who caused trouble for opposing cornerbacks. Lyle Leong had nine catches for 125 yards and three touchdowns against Iowa State, and nine receptions for 123 yards and two TD's against Missouri.

Meanwhile, teammate Alex Torres collected six catches for 133 yards and a touchdown against Colorado, and Detron Lewis had eight receptions for 111 yards against Texas A&M.

The 3-4 defense Tech ulitizes helps get more defenders in pass coverage, which Tuberville has discovered is a necessity in the Big 12.

"What separates the Big 12 from the SEC are the big receivers and the fast receivers (in the Big 12),'' Tuberville said. "And you have to counter that with corners that can handle the pressure.''

In other words, in the SEC most of the pressure applied to defenses came from power-packed and speedy running backs. In the Big 12, it's the wide receivers who are applying the pressure.

Cornerbacks beware.

"In some leagues you can get by with playing a guy at corner that might not have a lot of speed,'' Tuberville said. "But in the Big 12 they're going to isolate your cornerbacks, and everybody we played had an exceptional wide receiver.

"I guarantee you, all the corners in this league always get a lot of sleep after their games on Saturday night.''